﻿Woman, 45, bitten by shark in Ormond Beach

Woman, 45, bitten by shark in Ormond Beach

ORMOND BEACH — A 45-year-old female tourist from the Netherlands became the eighth person bitten by a shark this year in Volusia County.

The unidentified woman was swimming in about two-feet of water just south of the Granada Boulevard beach approach shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday when a shark grabbed her right foot, said Capt. Tammy Marris, spokeswoman Volusia’s Beach Safety and Ocean Rescue.

“She suffered about a six-inch laceration,” Marris said. “She was transported by EVAC ambulance (to an unknown hospital) as a precaution.”

This is the third such bite in the Ormond Beach area this year, a rarity so far away from Ponce de Leon Inlet which is famous for encounters between people — mostly surfers — and the finned creatures.

The other bites off the northern coast of the county occurred in May and on Sept. 2 when a Seabreeze High School football player suffered a bite to his shoulder while standing in waist-deep water.

Marris could not estimate the size of the shark involved in Sunday’s bite as she said no one saw the animal.

Saturday’s bite ties the number of shark bites that occurred in the county in 2012.

Sharks weren’t the only danger in the water on Saturday, said Marris.

“We have had very strong rip currents,” she said. “So far we have pulled 10 people out of the surf (from Ormond Beach to New Smyrna Beach.)”